If you have an Instant Pot, the sky’s the limit. It lets you cut down standard cooking times, and it’s your best friend on weeknights. Well, here’s a delicious recipe that’s perfect for the cold winter months, and it also doubles as the ultimate comfort food after a long day. Packed with flavor, protein, and color, this is how to make a scrumptious Taiwanese beef noodle soup in your Instant Pot.
The Ingredients for This Instant Pot Recipe
You’ll probably notice this Instant Pot recipe calls for lots of ingredients, but the prep work is simple, and it’s one of those meals that tastes even better when you reheat it. You’ll also notice you’ll need beef shank for the recipe. It usually comes in two forms in butcher shops: the foreshank and the hindshank. Both will work, so it’s up to you to decide. Often, the hindshank is the more affordable option.
For precooking:
- 2 pounds of boneless beef shank
- 6 cups water
- 1 (2-inch piece) fresh ginger, sliced
- 3 scallions, chopped
- 3 star anise
For the broth:
- 4 Roma tomatoes, quartered
- 3 white onions, quartered
- 4 cloves garlic, smashed
- 1 (2-inch piece) fresh ginger, sliced
- 7 cups water
- ½ cup soy sauce
- ½ cup dark soy sauce
- 3 tablespoons chili crisp
- 3 tablespoons vegetable oil
- 3 tablespoons Toban Djan sauce
- 2 tablespoons sugar
- 2 bay leaves
- 2 star anise
- 2 teaspoons ground white pepper
- Salt
For the toppings:
- 2 bundles of dried wheat noodles
- 3 medium bok choy, sliced
- 1 scallion, sliced
- 4 sprigs fresh cilantro (optional)
How to Make the Soup
Step 1: Precook and Cool the Beef
Grab the inner pot of your Instant Pot and place the beef, ginger, scallions, star anise, and six cups of water inside. Make sure the valve is set to seal. Program the device for manual/pressure cooking for about 10 minutes at high pressure. In the meantime, you can prep an ice bath. Once the beef is done, submerge it in the ice bath for another 10 minutes. Clean the inner pot.
Step 2: Slice the Beef and Prep the Spices
Program the cooker to the manual sauté setting. Let it preheat at a high temperature and add the oil. While your Instant Pot is preheating, grab a cutting board and slice the beef into ½-inch pieces. Place the ginger, bay leaves, and star anise in a spice ball (so you can easily remove them after).
Step 3: Make the Soup
Add the soy and dark soy sauces, along with the sugar, Toban Djan, chili crisp, white pepper, and garlic to the Instant Pot. Stir well, then add the tomatoes, onions, and beef shank. Add seven cups of water. Let it cook on the manual setting for about 80 minutes at high pressure. Make the noodles and bok choy in the meantime. Bring a pot of water to a boil and add the wheat noodles and bok choy. Cook according to the package instructions and drain.
Step 4: Assemble Everything
When the pressure cooking time is up, remove the spice ball and season with salt. Then, add the bok choy, noodles, and soup in individual bowls and garnish with cilantro and scallions. Enjoy!
You can refrigerate your Instant Pot soup for up to five days.